Interleaved memory control signal handling apparatus using pipelining techniques

ABSTRACT

This specification discloses an interleaved memory in which different storage units within the memory can be operated in overlapping operating cycles to increase the apparent speed of the memory. These storage units each have a separate ring counter that is started when the particular storage unit is first accessed. The ring counter generates gating and drive pulses for the accessed storage unit at times consistent with the proper operation of that storage unit. The data to control the function performed by the memory is fed into shift registers operated in synchronism with the ring counters. In this way the data is accessible at different times at different locations along the length of the shift registers so that it is available to direct the functioning of the storage unit at times determined by the generation of the gating and timing pulses by the ring counter.

United States Patent l Salvo l Aug. 19, 1975 PIPELINING TECHNIQUES [75] Inventor: George P. Salvo, Poughkeepsie.

[73] Assignce: IBM Corporation, Armonk, N.Y.

[22 Filed: Nov. 30, I973 l2ll Appl No: 420,492

[52] US. Cl. 340/1725 [51 Int. Cl. G06F 9/00 [58] Field of SearchW. 340/1725, 173 FF. l73 RC; 328/55 [561 References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3.543.243 ll/l97l) Nordquisl 340M725 3.555.522 l/lJ'il Martin. Jr... 340M725 $585,604 b/l97l Lloyd 4 i 34(l/l 725 3 h75.2lh 7/1972 James 4 I i i r 340/1725 m IO to men roam I Pllillht I I 1 e; we 1 16 31 M To TI E T SRl I Slll H sin I 5m a I i I cum: z s SR2 SR2 SR2 I st? l I: l I l l l l 5R3 SR3 I l I l sin I SR4 Ski I I STORE P STORE memos: ERROR INDICATOR cum L momma momma coanccnou I l l I mom SR5 l I conntcnou I I I I i l l Primary Eruminer-Gareth D. Shaw Assistant Exuminer-J()hn P. Vandenburg Attorney. Agenl, or Firm-James E. Murray [57} ABSTRACT This specification discloses an interleaved memory in which different storage units within the memory can be operated in overlapping operating cycles to in crease the apparent speed of the memory. These storage units each have a separate ring counter that is started when the particular storage unit is first accessed. The ring counter generates gating and drive pulses for the accessed storage unit at times consistent with the proper operation of that storage unit. The data to control the function performed by the memory is fed into shift registers operated in synchronism with the ring counters. In this way the data is accessible at different times at different locations along the length of the shift registers so that it is available to direct the functioning of the storage unit at times determined by the generation of the gating and timing pulses by the ring counter.

4 Claims, 7 Drawing Figures PATENTEU AUG 1 9 I975 POSITION 0-25n SEC DELAY 0-25 n SEC DELAY SET T l I RESET l l l l l I FORM 20/20 SELECT 0 RESTART 0 SELECT 1 RESTART 4 40/40 SYSTEM CLOCK FIG.3

1 l T I 1 SA CATE (FETCH) 00C DATA OUT (STORE DATA IN WRITE 000 PATENTED AUG 1 9 I975 SilZET 4 [1F 5 FIG.4

INPUT INPUT PATENTEUAUGTQIQTS 5 SHEET 5 DP 5 FIGS 0 80 160 240 520 400 480 560 640 |LJ||LJL||| LT |L||| SELECT SELECT SRTTT T4 SELECT SRTPIE 2 SELECT SR AP 5 sELEcTsRPPA SELECT A PARTIAL STORE SRF5 SELECT A PARTIAL STORE SRTFS ADDRESS ADDRESS REC LSUX1 P L PARTIAL STORE l| PARTIAL sToRE sRPTT |--i PARTIAL STORE sPTAz l-L PARTLAL sTDRE SRTH T -A PARTIAL STORE sRAAA MARKS TT MARKS SRTH A-- 1 MARKS sRTAz L--i MARKS sRAAs T--T MARKS SR#4 DATA DATA sRAAz l---T DATA SRTH TL DATA SR#4 DATA To DATA (MERGED) SR=FE5 MEMORY DATA sRAD TETcHED DATA UPDATED CKS SELECT SELECT SRiil l-- sELEcT SRIFE 2 ADDRESS ADDRESS REG, Lsuxz i A STORE \-LT STORE SR #1 STORE SR #2 DATA TO DATA L+ MEMORY DATA SRA FZ SELECT ADDRESS A? ADDRESS REC LSUXZ, i 1

NOT STORE T-T FETCHED DATA TD FUNNEL T-T DATA TO SCU DATA OUT TIME INTERLEAVEI) MEMORY CONTROL SIGNAL HANDLING APPARATUS USING PIPELINING TECHNIQUES BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Interleaving is a very desirable feature in memories since it makes a memory seem faster to the accessing devices than it really is. However. a memory that cmploys interleaving requires a significant amount of logic primarily in the form of latches to store the various control signals used to access the interleaved memory and also requires precise clocking to control the functioning of the mentioned latches so as to make the information available to the right section of the memory at the proper point in its operating cycle.

SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT INVENTION In accordance with the present invention, the amount of hardware required to control the memory and the complexity of the clocking ofthe memory is reduced by using pipelining techniques. Pipelining is a known design technique which separates logical design with registers. Here the latches used to store the control information for the memory are arranged in pipelines or shift registers where the information moves from latch to latch of the shift registers in synchronism with the operation of ring counters used to generate the gating and drive signals for the memory and is available for logical decision making at some latch location when the memory is ready to perform a particular function.

Therefore. it is an object of the present invention to simplify the logic needed to operate a memory system.

Another object of the present invention is to simplify the logic and clocking in interleaved memory systems.

It is another object of the present invention to employ pipelining to simplify the logic and clocking in an interleaved memory system.

The foregoing and other objects. features and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following description of a preferred embodiment of the invention as illustrated in the accompanying drawings. of which:

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIGS. la and [11 are a schematic diagram of the system employing the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a logic diagram of the ring counters shown in FIG. I;

FIG. 3 is a set of output pulses from the ring counters shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a typical shift register pipeline used in the circuit of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a series of input and output waveforms on the shift register pipeline shown in FIG. 4; and

FIG. 6 is a timing diagram showing the operation of the circuit of FIG. I as it performs a store. a partial store and a fetch operation.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION Referring now to FIG. I. the storage unit comprises four separate logical storage units of LSU's I0 each having its own storage register or SAR I2 and ring counter I4. Iiach of the logical storage units contains eight data segments A through H ofa quarter of million bits of data each. The LSI s II) can be accessed at St) nanosecond intervals by address bits 9 through 28 sup plied in parallel to the storage unit by the CPU. Bits 27 and 28 are decoded in decoder circuit I6 to supply an actuating signal for one of the gates 13 to select the particular logical storage unit being addressed. Bits 8 through ll then select the particular segment within the logical storage unit being addressed while the remainder bits access a seventy-two bit portion of data within the selected segment. This seventy-two bit portion of data comprises two words comprising sixty-four data bits and eight ECC check bits.

The gating and drive signals used in the logical storage units 10 are generated by ring counters 14 which are driven by a clock signal (40/40) from the CPU having a period of nanoseconds divided equally between up and down levels. Each ring also receives one bit of a four-bit select signal from the CPU to deter mine which of the LSUs will be accessed during any 80 nanosecond period of the clock. The select signal comprises three binary Os' and a binary 1". The ring 14 receiving the binary l signal is the ring for the selected logical storage unit. The other rings receiving the binary ()s are for the unselected storage units.

The ring is illustrated in FIG. 2. It is a straightforward ring circuit. It produces a 40 nanosecond pulse at each of its outputs at 20 nanosecond intervals. These pulses are fed through latches to generate the various signals used in the memory system such as those shown in FIG. 3. Each latch receives a set input from one of the outputs of the ring and a reset input from an output further down the ring so that it will produce the desired pulse at the desired time.

To control the transfer of data between the storage unit and the CPU a storage distribution element SDE is provided. The SDE provides the ECC logical data and addressing and timing control signals to support the storage. In accordance with the present invention the SDE is designed using pipelining techniques. Pipelining is a known design technique which separates logical operations with registers. Using this technique in the SDE allows the clocking and control data to move down the pipeline at some harmonic of halfthe storage select rate (80 nanoseconds) and be available for logical decision making at selected times and different locations along the pipelines. Data coincidence of logical operations involving two or more pipelines is easily accomplished by adjusting the clocks feeding the registers involved.

A single digit pipeline is illustrated in FIG. 4. As can be seen in this figure. the pipeline consists ofa plurality of two position shift registers SR. each having two latches with the input of the second latch being fed by the first latch and the output of the second latch feeding the input of the first latch on the next stage. The first stage L of the register SRI receives the input signal from the CPU and the second stage T of each of the registers provides the latch data at its output at a preset interval after the data appears at the output of the stage before it and prior to the appearance of the data at the output of the stage after it. As shown. these pipelines operate off the same 40 X 40 clock as the ring counters I4 so that the data supplied to the inputs of the pipelines will be stepped along in the pipeline in synchronism with the operation of the storage unit.

Referring hack to FIG. I, a plurality DI IZI'IGSC pipelines is seen. each pipeline capable of handling one or more digits. The pipelines for handling more than one digit are a number of the single digit pipelines shown in FIG. 4 in parallel. The first pipeline 20 is a four-digit ipeline that receives the four select pulses mentioned reviously in connection with the ring counters. A seend pipeline 22 receives a single bit to indicate whether store operation is to be performed by the memory or .ot. A 1 here indicates that a store operation is to he erformed. The next column is another single digit ipeline 24 which receives a partial store indication mm the CPU. A I sent to this pipeline by the CPU iniic ates that a partial store operation is to be performed. f a select signal is provided to the first pipeline 20 a (I s supplied to both the second and third pipelines 22 ,nd 24, and a fetch or read operation is to be perormed.

The next three pipelines 26. 28 and 30 contain a dignostic bit, a cancel bit, and mark bits. The first two iipelines are single bit pipelines which contain signals hat may require the data requested to be aborted. The text pipeline 30 accepts 9 hits in parallel, 8 bits for inlicating which byte or bytes in a word are to be :hanged during a partial store operation and the ninth ait being a parity bit of the other eight. If there is a l ii any one of the first eight mark bit positions that byte n the word is to be changed. Thus, if there is a l in the irst mark bit position, the first byte is then to be :hanged by the partial store and if there is a mark in the irst and second mark bit positions, then the first and .econd bytes of the word are to be changed, and so on.

The next pipeline 32 is that which receives the data be entered into the storage. This is seventy two bits vide to accept the sixty-four bits of the word plus eight wits generated by the error correction code generator 54.

We will now describe the operation of the circuit of 10, l in connection with store, partial store and fetch Jperations. First, a partial store operation will be de- ;cribed then a store operation and, finally, a fetch op- :ration. The partial store will take place in LSU 100. At Lime T0, the CPU provides the address bits 9 28. Bits Z7 and 28 are decoded to select the SAR 12a and bits 9 26 are then fed into the SAR 1241. As shown in FIG. 5, the four select hits, the partial store bit, and the nine 'nark bits are supplied to the memory along with the .lddfCSS at time T0. As pointed out previously, the seect bits are used to start the clock for LSU 10a to gen- :rate the clock pulses for the LSU 100. One of these JLllSCS readies the SAR 12a to accept the address. Also, it time T0 the select, partial store and mark bits are fed into pipelines 20, 24 and 30, respectively. As can be seen from FIG. 1 the select, partial store and mark bits for the partial store operation proceed through the ;teps of the pipeline in sequence. the first through SR], then SR2, and so on under the sequencing of the 40 X 4U main data clock pulse.

At time T0 plus 80, data is put into pipeline 32 where ECC bits are added to it and fed into SR 2. The data then proceeds in pipeline 32 in parallel with the select bits in pipeline 2U. partial store bit in pipeline 24, and the mark hits in pipeline 30 until the output of SR 4. At that time the fetch pulse produced by the ring counter .lllOWS data in the LSU [0a to be read out of the fetch decoder 36 and fed into a gate circuit 32 consisting of an AND gate for each of the bits. At the same time, the data exiting from SR 4 in pipeline 32 enters a similar gate. hach of the AND gates receiving a bit from the fetch decoder 36 also receives the inverse of one of the eight mark bits. Each of the AND gates receiving a bit from SR 4 also rcccites one of the eight mark bits.

(ill

Thus. any byte having a l in this mark bit position allows the data from SR 4 to enter SR and any byte with a 0 bit in its mark position permits that byte in SR 4 to enter the SR 5. Therefore, at this point merging the data from LSU with the data being entered in this partial store operation is accomplished so that the new data from the partial store is contained in SR 5. Also, at SR 4 output time the partial store signal is fed to ring counter 14:: to restart the ring counter and is fed into AND circuit 38 to permit the select signal to enter SR 4 in pipeline 20.

Because the data in the word has been changed, the error correction bits must be updated. This is done in ECC check bit generator circuit 40 and the results fed into SR 6 along with the data bits of the double word. At SR 6 output time the output of pipeline containing the select bits is fed into the AND gate simultaneously with the output of SR 6 in pipeline 32. There is a series of AND gates for each of the LSUs 10a 10d. However. only the LSU 10a receives the data since its AND gates are the only ones open by a I select signal.

At T0 plus 320 nanoseconds a store and select digits are applied to pipelines 20 and 22 to effect a store on LSU 10d. Again, simultaneously with the select pulse an address is supplied to the SAR lot], The select causes the ring counter i011 to start upon the applica' tion of the positive-going portion of the 40 nanosecond pulse, opening the address register to accept address bits. At time T0 plus 400 data enters pipeline 32 and ECC digits are generated in ECC generator 32 and the address plus the ECC bits are placed into shift register SR 2. Also. the output of SR l in pipeline 20 and SR I in pipeline 22 are ANDed, fed to a delay and passed into AND gate 44 simultaneously with the appearance of the stored data at the output of SR 2. AND gate 44, like AND gate 40, is a series of four sets of AND gates, one for each of the LSUs 10a 10d. Each of these AND gates receives one digit of the seventy-two bit word and one of the select digits. Only the gates to LSU 10d are open since that is the only one receiving a 1 digit from the select pipeline 20. Thus, the data is entered into the LSU 10d at time 510 nanoseconds simultaneously with the data entering LSU 10a so that a partial store and a store operation can be simultaneously applied to the LSUs without conflict with this scheme.

The final operation to be described is a fetch operation. Here select and address pulses are received at time T0 and through the operation of the ring counter for LSU 100. This causes the SAR 12(- to transmit the address of the requested data to SCU 100. When the fetched data reaches a select decoder a pulse from the ring counter passes the data out at T0 plus 400 nanoseconds.

While the invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to a preferred embodiment thereof, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that the above and other changes in form and details may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. In an interleaved memory having a plurality of storage units each of which internally uses a plurality of timed operating pulses that are generated by a separate ring counter driven by a clocking source which determines the intervals at which the storage units can be operated. an improved storage control unit comprising:

a a plurality of multi stage shift registers driven by said clocking source for receiving control informa tion for instructing the memory to perform either a fetch. store or partial store operation;

b. means for supplying a control signal to at least the ring counter supplying operating pulses to the storage unit of interleaved memory being accessed and to the shift registers to start the ring counter and the shift registers so that as a result of the shift registers being driven by the same clocking source the ring counter the shift registers and ring counter operate in synchronism; and

c. logic means coupling inputs of the memory units to selected stages in first plurality of shift registers for generating control signals that permit the pass sage of data into the accessed memory unit only at those times that the control signals generated from the control information in the selected stages of the plurality of shift registers indicates data should be entered into the accessed memory unit of the interleaved memory to perform one of the fetch store or partial store operations 2. The memory of claim 1 wherein said plurality of shift registers includes three shift registers each storing one binary digit in each stage thereof, wherein: the first shift register stores a select digit indicating the selection of one of the memory units for accessing when a binary l is stored therein; the second shift register stores a store digit indicating the performance of a write operation is to be performed when a binary l is stored therein; the third digit stores a partial store digit indicating only part of the data has to be rewritten during the store operation when a binary l is stored therein; and the three shift registers together indicate a write operation is to be performed when there is a binary stored in any given stage of the first shift register and a binary 0 stored in the corresponding stages of the second and third shift registers.

3. The memory of claim 2 wherein said plurality of shift registers includes additional shift registers, the first two of which store data indicating that the operation performed by the memory as controlled by the data in the corresponding stages of said three shift registers may have to be aborted and the remainder of said additional shift registers indicating which bytes are to be written into the memory during a partial store operation.

4. The memory of claim 2 including first logic means to feed the selection digits to the ring counter of the selected storage unit during one time period; and

second logic means coupling an intermediate output of the shift registers receiving the select signals to the input of the storage units to control which of the storage units receives the data on a store and partial store operation. 

1. In an interleaved memory having a plurality of storage units each of which internally uses a plurality of timed operating pulses that are generated by a separate ring counter driven by a clocking source which determines the intervals at which the storage units can be operated, an improved storage control unit comprising: a. a plurality of multi stage shift registers driven by said clocking source for receiving control information for instructing the memory to perform either a fetch, store or partial store operation; b. means for supplying a control signal to at least the ring counter supplying operating pulses to the storage unit of interleaved memory being accessed and to the shift registers to start the ring counter and the shift registers so that as a result of the shift registers being driven by the same clocking source as the ring counter the shift registers and ring counter operate in synchronism; and c. logic means coupling inputs of the memory units to selected stages in first plurality of shift registers for generating control signals that permit the passage of data into the accessed memory unit only at those times that the control signals generated from the control information in the selected stages of the plurality of shift registers indicates data should be entered into the accessed memory unit of the interleaved memory to perform one of the fetch, store or partial store operations.
 2. The memory of claim 1 wherein said plurality of shift registers includes three shift registers each storing one binary digit in each stage thereof, wherein: the first shift register stores a select digit indicating the selection of one of the memory units for accessing when a binary 1 is stored therein; the second shift register stores a store digit indicating the performance of a write operation is to be performed when a binary 1 is stored therein; the third digit stores a partial store digit indicating only part of the data has to be rewritten during the store operation when a binary 1 is stored therein; and the three shift registers together indicate a write operation is to be performed when there is a binary 1 stored in any given stage of the first shift register and a binary 0 stored in the corresponding stages of the second and third shift registers.
 3. The memory of claim 2 wherein said plurality of shift registers includes additional shift registers, the first two of which store data indicating that the operation performed by the memory as controlled by the data in the corresponding stages of said three shift registers may have to be aborted and the remainder of said additional shift registers indicating which bytes are to be written into the memory during a partial store operation.
 4. The memory of claim 2 including first logic means to feed the selection digits to the ring counter of the selected storage unit during one time period; and second logic means coupling an intermediate output of the shift registers receiving the select signals to the input of the storage units to control which of the storage units receives the data on a store and partial store operation. 